Stylish Spaces

White has always been a scary prospect for me - both in personal attire and home furnishings -  simply because I am clumsy by nature, in addition to suffering from serious bouts of carelessness,  which invariably  means that white never stays pristine white on me or around me . And believe me I have tried curbing my genetic inclinations, but no matter how conscious I am and take infinite care, somehow from forces in action unbeknown to me, I always end up spilling something or other, marring the snowy whiteness. And just like things you know you can't have, being dressed in white from head to toe, looking ultimately cool and put-together day in day out is one of my ultimate fantasies.  I remember when my son Dan was in year 2, a new boy Alex joined his class. The class teacher, knowing my son as the shy, quiet one - asked him to buddy Alex for a week. Before the week was out, the boys became inseparable in class and on the playground - and I got to know Alex's m...

I have been watching the new series of Dragon's Den and one of the newest dragon on the block is Kelly Hoppen. It is good to see Kelly after such a long time, she looks wonderful for her age and still has her sharp wit about her. I first heard of Kelly some 15 years past when feng shui and zen living was a fad sweeping though the design circles and every other designer had something or the other to say about it. Kelly was one of those who not only embraced the trend whole heartedly but also appeared in many TV programs, magazines and coffee-table books advocating simple, no fuss almost sparse living spaces devoid of colour. I must confess, I like calm interiors, but I can't stand blandness in living spaces, because then it gets too clinical, too devoid of personality - so even though she became a big name back then, I never caught on to her style simply because it didn't resonate with me - But over the years my design ideas have evolved and matured as the...

There is something so pure, serene and calm about pastels - even the strongest and loudest of colours, the ones that if they had souls would be shouting from the roof tops, talk in hushed tones as pastels. They seem to take on an almost ethereal, elegant persona, where they exist to blend in, not stand out and yet in doing so somehow make more of an impact than their solid, concentrated form. That's why I love pastels - a room with pastels incorporated as a main backdrop or as accessories is a room halfway on its way to success - the other half of course depends on the decorators foresight and ability to pull different elements of the room cohesively together - whether they use the backdrop of  a pastel wall colour  or scattered accessories to do so.  A common mistake people make while decorating with pastels is having too many different pastels in a room together -its almost as if they cannot  decide which pastels to stick with and end up using all - I have b...

When you get to a certain age, thoughts of mortality become a near constant, if not constant reminder.  Suddenly you find increasing number of friends - some you grew up with and shared many signpost moments of yours and theirs life -  have serious health issues. Nearly all conversations with your parents involve visits to hospitals, doctors and medications.  People who were your rock, your generation, are dealing with loss of parents or spouses and are increasingly vulnerable needing your support. It is a poignant realisation that death looms ahead - not only for your near and dear elderly but for you as well.   Thoughts of life ending is a strange feeling to harbour - sure, it makes you fearful  - the unknown always does - but most of all it makes you question a lot of things you do on a daily basis - little things you sweat over that do not really matter in the grand scheme of things - and even more than that it makes you want to really live like you ...

Every one of us is living till death comes calling on us, but have you ever wondered what it means to 'live'  - for  there is a marked difference between 'living' and 'being alive'. Every one of us lives, we go about our life, raising kids, managing our homes, going to our daily jobs, going to restaurants on weekends, getting groceries, yes - we all do that, but are we truly alive? Do we not go about life doing the mundane, the expected, following the millions before us, going through the motions of life - sleeping, eating, breathing without feeling alive. I myself , like millions of others go through the motions of living everyday, and  I don't know about you,  but I certainly want to feel alive at least part of the day everyday. Being alive is to ignite a passion for something so greater than yourself  that you feel  energised just thinking about it - every fibre in your being is consumed by it. Some are lucky to find this in the jobs they do- some fin...

When growing up, people often ask you where your interests lie and what do you want to be when you are older - the bizarre thing is no one asks the most important, fundamental question- what kind of person you aspire to be - after all that's what defines us ultimately, not our jobs, our careers, our salary package, no, none of that - but the person we grow up into.  I never always knew what I wanted to do in my life - but I always knew the kind of person I wanted to be - and that for me was a person with grace, integrity, riding the storm of life with a calm exterior - a person who believes and strives for balance, harmony and all things beautiful. It's been a journey getting to be that person, and I can honestly admit I am not there yet, but it's getting easier as I grow older - because like any other career  goalposts that require work and commitment, getting to be the person you aspire to be requires commitment and dedication as well. All the great people in this worl...

At social gatherings I get asked a lot what I do and when I tell them I teach, the casual response sometimes is 'so just a teacher" which puts an instant freeze on the smalltalk because I can only blink  and stare back at them all the while thinking - now do they actually want me to say something in response to that - but more importantly, do I want to respond to that ignorant opinion of an even ignorant, bigoted person? Teaching skills of academia to secondary students (teenagers) is one of the hardest but also the most rewarding jobs you can do  - and I think most parents of teenage children will agree with me here when I say - at this age, you get the best of them and the worst of them. So I can honestly say, you end up not just teaching them, but listening to their tales of woe from home, smoothing over their ruffled feathers when they have an emotional tiff with a peer and rejoicing in their little triumphs. They...